League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“You’re amazing,” Snowfall whispered in admiration.

Yu Luocheng shook his head. “I ended up taking the kill, so we’ve come out of that a little behind.”

“Still, we’re doing great. Maybe you aren’t aware what rank those two hold amongst the LoL players nationwide. There aren’t many amateurs who could have scored a kill against them without a Jungler to help. You’ve really outdone yourself.” Snowfall heaped the praise onto him.

Yi Qin had always known that her gaming partner was rather skilled. Without him playing Support for her, she might not have been able to make it up to 2,000 points in Ranked play.

But to think that, even against professional players, he’d be able to remain calm and achieve such incredible results. If she wasn’t so well-acquainted with him already, she’d have trouble believing he was just some schoolboy.

“Hehe.” Yu Luocheng grinned. Receiving compliments from Lady Yi Qin made him feel good all over.

Yep, it looked like he hadn’t lost his edge.

Thinking back, however, Asmodai’s assault had actually caught him off-guard. If he’d been a heartbeat slower to react, he could have just been killed off without ever getting out a single skill!

Through all the games of ‘League of Legends’ that he’d played, it was the first time he’d ever met such a brutal opponent!

Asmodai had chosen his moment well. The minion wave had been pushing towards Yu Luocheng’s side, so now that he’d died and had to wait to respawn at the Fountain, Caitlyn would be hard-pressed to repel the onslaught. Thresh would take over for Ezreal and throttle the progress of the minion battles, so that Asmodai wouldn’t have lost out on too much by the time he returned.

Yu Luocheng was the Support player, so all he could really do with the gold he’d been awarded from the champion kill was buy a few more Vision Wards to help control vision on the map.

He took a look at how either side was doing. Ezreal had gotten himself a kill, had collected more minions than Caitlyn, and had the advantage in equipment.

This was becoming a real headache for Yu Luocheng. If things carried on like this, the difference in items between the ADCs would only keep growing.

***

Back to life, Yu Luocheng made his way back down the lane, mulling over ways to close the gap.

Yi-yi-yi-ya-ya… ya-ya-ya-yi-yi-yi …

It was a cute girlish voice, humming a little tune. It sounded like a self-recorded ringtone. Hearing it, Yu Luocheng couldn’t help laughing out loud.

“Snowy, what a cute ringtone you have there!”

“I got it from a little girl I met on the street,” Snowfall laughed as she replied. “I thought it sounded nice, so I made a recording, and then set it as my ringtone.”

And then, Yi Qin cast a glance down at her phone, beside her chair. When she saw who it was, an arched eyebrow rose.

“Aren’t you getting that?” Yu Luocheng wondered.

“I shan’t. It’s from a man who irks me.”

“An ex-boyfriend?”

“Rather, my ex-ex-ex-ex-boyfriend…” Seeing that had brought Yi Qin’s mood down somewhat, but when she heard the worry in Yu Luocheng’s voice, she found herself laughing again.

Yu Luocheng hadn’t quite caught the exact number of exes, just now. His heart trembled with a spasm of terror. Surely Yi Qin didn’t really have such a high turnover rate on boyfriends?

Yi Qin wasn’t picking up the call because it was from her father again, doubtless to harry her some more to pack up her things. She had no patience for him at the moment.

Right now, she just wanted to enjoy this game.

But the phone continued to ring, and Yi Qin grew more and more annoyed by it.

“Let me just get this, real quick.” Yi Qin brought Caitlyn over to wait somewhere safe.

“Okay.” Yu Luocheng watched the minions, temptation gnawing at him.

There were a dozen enemy minions in this wave. If Snowfall didn’t take them, her Creep Score would fall by that much more, putting Ezreal even further out of her reach.

Unless he did something incredible soon, there would be little hope to find victory against those two.

***

“Why aren’t you all packed yet? Didn’t you hear me?” a man’s harsh voice barked over the phone.

“Talk, talk, talk—and why do I have to listen to you? Since when have you ever really been a father to me?” Yi Qin snapped back in rage.

“How dare you speak like this—”

Without allowing him to finish, Yi Qin hung up, switched off the phone, and tossed it aside.

***

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and then looked at the computer screen. She didn’t want Yu Luocheng to know about her leaving, so she’d muted the headset microphone the whole time.

She sat herself down before the computer once more, and gently switched the mic back on.

“All done?” Yu Luocheng asked.

“Mm.”

***

“We’re falling behind,” Yu Luocheng pointed out.

“Mm.” Yi Qin nodded distractedly.

“Watch out, Thresh’s hook!” Yu Luocheng yelled.

“Ah?” Yi Qin’s thoughts were a mess. She didn’t even notice herself walking out into danger!

The hook caught squarely on Caitlyn. Yi Qin panicked, using both her Barrier and Flash the very instant the hook wore off.

At the cost of both of her Summoner Spells, Yi Qin managed to escape with her life. Yu Luocheng unleashed a full skill combo on Thresh, but couldn’t take off even half of his health.

Yu Luocheng sighed audibly. Now that she’d been caught once, the next time she made another mistake, it would be her death.

Yi Qin was usually very focused when playing, and she truly loved this game. When she began her voice chat with Yu Luocheng, she’d managed to completely forget about the bleak day awaiting her on the morrow.

However, this last phone call from her father had snapped her back to reality. Now her enjoyment had abruptly faded away, replaced by the horrible realization that tomorrow… tomorrow, she would be gone.

Yi Qin’s fingers tapped numbly across her keyboard, the light faded away from her dull eyes.

“Snowy, they’re attacking,” Yu Luocheng alerted her.

Then, he yelled, “Snowy!”

Yi Qin didn’t reply, and remained where she was, woodenly farming minions.

Suddenly, a third champion burst out from the bushes—the enemy Jungler!

This was exactly what Yu Luocheng had been expecting, and why he’d instructed Snowfall to get back. Yet although he’d predicted the enemy’s next move, and gave a warning to Snowfall, it seemed as though she hadn’t heard him. First the Jungler locked her down, followed by Thresh doing the same…

Then Ezreal was there, unleashing a flurry of attacks and skills upon Caitlyn, whose health fell like a rock. Her Flash and Barrier already expended, she was defenseless.

Exasperated, Yu Luocheng stepped in and threw out everything he had, trying to buy Snowfall a chance to escape.

However, none of their opponents were so careless as to allow Caitlyn to get away. She fell immediately, and Ezreal got the kill again.

Yu Luocheng held down Tab to see what the score was now.

Ezreal was now approximately three kills ahead. Their Bottom lane was now in desperate straits, and Yu Luocheng felt helpless to do anything about it . ¹

Yu Luocheng had a good sense of Snowfall’s skill level. Although not quite at the pro level, she shouldn’t be this bad.

It had taken him great effort to stave off their elite opponents earlier, but although he was fighting tooth-and-nail in this game, it felt like his partner was completely out of it.

It didn’t seem fair.

Yu Luocheng felt he had to say something to Snowfall, or else there would be no coming back from their assured defeat.

“Snowy, why didn’t you fall back? Didn’t you hear me?” Yu Luocheng couldn’t keep a hint of accusation from creeping into his voice.

Didn’t you hear me?

Didn’t you hear me!

It felt like he’d said it in exactly the same way as the last man who’d been ordering her around. Yi Qin’s heart was suddenly consumed by anguish and fury!

“Are you blaming me?” she snapped back, her voice frigid cold like ice.

Yu Luocheng was taken aback by this. He’d spoken sternly, solemnly, with the intention of conveying how important this fight was to him.

“No, I was just asking you to pay more attention,” he replied.

“That means you’re blaming me!”